


Seven Drabbles for Seven Ladies

by lemurious



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arda Forged, Drabble Collection, Finwëan Ladies Week 2020, Gen, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26890615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemurious/pseuds/lemurious
Summary: Drabble-poetry for Finwëan Ladies Week 2020.Chapter 1: IndisChapter 2: LalwenChapter 3: GaladrielChapter 4: IdrilChapter 5: NerdanelChapter 6: Auriel (original character)Chapter 7: Edith
Comments: 24
Kudos: 19
Collections: Finwëan Ladies Week 2020





	1. Indis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knows who she was until Finwë’s death, but what did she do after? Here is one possibility...

her name, a footnote in history

but what of her life, her defiance

holding Finwë’s hand, forcing the Noldor to face their love?

despised as sloppy, brash, unwomanly,

she crafts her words into both tapestries and weapons

and tells her children never to surrender.

she follows them through Helcaraxë,

which barely registers compared to her grief

when her firstborn rides alone towards the North,

her own defiance in his face.

he deserves to be more than a name.

they all do.

but who would trust her tale?

she disappears, assumes another name,

crafts his gravestone in words.

beginning:

Quenta Silmarillion.


	2. Lalwen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where did Lalwen go, once they had crossed the Helcaraxë, and why was she all but erased from the official accounts of the Finwëans?
> 
> This is in-universe for Arda Forged, and will likely be expanded.

she follows Fingolfin to war and vengeance

and a chance at freedom 

she’s not allowed to swear, oaths are for men,

forgotten when she goes out with a knife into a storm,

brings back a seal, 

red traces on the ice a promise of survival

when they arrive, she’s locked behind the walls again,

protect and nurture, that’s a woman’s lot

while men are off to march against a misfit army -

those creatures place their women at the front lines, how depraved!

she slips out of the story

her crystal laughter rings in Thangorodrim as its walls cave in


	3. Galadriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not entirely kind to Galadriel, but she did basically remove herself from three Ages of war, and it is interesting to interpret how she might have felt about it in the end.

when she arrives, her face is marked by guilt

distorted after ages of serenity,

its cause misunderstood by crowds in Alqualondë

they think it is the oath

they do not know she hid inside her forest kingdom,

her sliver of Aman,

outside the gates, a horde of hungry soldiers

they light their candles now, dead faces in the water

all wars have ended, and soldiers are no more

no Gil-galad, no Finrod and no Fëanorians

no husband left but hers

no city left but hers

three ruthless ages choosing safety for her kingdom

her wisdom turned to ashes and regret


	4. Idril

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interpretation of Idril, who gained her husband and lost her son to the judgment of the Valar.  
> Consistent with my Arda Forged verse, e.g. in that she wears prosthetics on both feet, designed by Curufin.

her feet of silver and steel

her voice, raised fearless and high

her eyes transparent in sunlight

(her darkness always one step behind)

her hands, clutching her husband, her son,

she will not beg for their lives

she will fight for their lives

how could she fear the Valar when

she lives on her father’s defiance

when her legs were withered by frost,

she walks on a Fëanorian’s cunning

in forging her feet in atonement,

when her kingdom is ruined by wars they forgot

a forbidden husband in tow,

she demands retribution

and wins

and her son is the price


	5. Nerdanel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the War of Wrath is over, she goes to demand that her family - all her family - be restored to her, whatever it took. Fortunately, she learned a thing or two back in her forge days. A snippet from Arda Forged ‘verse.

she walks in circles around the walls of Mandos,

they think it’s not surprising, mother’s grief,

they have forgotten that she learned in Aulë's forges,

a fire Maia at her side

(his name no longer mentioned)

if there’s a way to break inside, she’ll find it

(there always is a way, the fire Maia said)

now her demands: her husband and her sons,

allowed in there to rest, and leave when ready

or else, her bombs will detonate, all the walls will fall

in rage and fury, the Valar accept

she goes inside to be there when her firstborn wakes


	6. Auriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Finwëan Ladies Week Day 6: original character.  
> She is Thranduil's wife in the utterly delightful [My Heart Is an Empty Vessel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26197213/chapters/63752611) by [@likethenight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/likethenight/pseuds/likethenight). Here, I made her the daughter of Celegorm...

they met in Doriath, 

a guardian at the gates,

the daughter of a hunter

she never spoke her father’s name, 

but could not hide her skill

in forging silver, crafting diamonds, 

her uncle’s training

(he said, she gets to be the best of them, 

the only Fëanorian without the greed and pride,

she needs to keep her memories for them all)

and when they buried Doriath in blood and broken oaths, 

she took her jewelry and grabbed her love, and ran

two ages passed, and all that’s left of memories

the diamond necklace she had crafted

in her husbands hands


	7. Edith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edith Bratt was Tolkien's wife, and although their tombstone marks "Lúthien" and "Beren", she may have also served as an inspiration for other ladies in the Legendarium.

_(think Lúthien)_ she dances in a glade and waits at home

her husband’s on the battlefield, no nightingales in sight

 _(think Anairë)_ three sons, one daughter, expecting, raising, nurturing and healing

her husband’s unaware, forever lost in kingdoms built of words

 _(think Aredhel_ ) a lifetime standing guard, her courage just a memory,

her name a footnote, her trickster spirit gone,

until her husband writes her in a song,

until _(think Lúthien)_ redeemed, feet nimble, hands clasped tight,

all chores and sacrifices over,

 _(think Beren and)_ their true names on the tombstone,

their spirits following the straight road to the West

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments always very much appreciated!  
> Also, I swear each individual chapter is 100 words. AO3 apparently can't count. :D


End file.
